Stay on crazy med-surg or unemployment

Nurses New Nurse

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Hello! I recently received my RN license here in CA. Before that I was working as a LVN for 3 years on a med surg floor. Here is the dilemma. I was offered a full time night position on my floor as a RN. Not sure if I should take the job or look elsewhere. Like many other places, It is REALLY difficult to get a job in the hospital for a new grad. Ive talked to countless managers and turned in applications for other floors and they were all denied for no exp.

I guess I know that I should feel so lucky to have been offered a job but as an LVN (which was easier) I HATED working on med surg !!!

Should I just suck it up for the experience and work somewhere that I absolutely despise or wait it out on unemployment?

examples.

-Our cna's get 14-16 patients, so they are way to busy to help us when we really need it

-Our floor is the dumping ground for CIWA and various other types of patients that other floors won't deal with. (Other med surg floors won't take CIWA patients or chest tubes!)

-Our manager is pretty ruthless and will write you up for anything, not one person is happy with her at the moment. She doesn't listen to anyone, she just tells us "if you can't do your job, let me know because I will find someone to replace you)

- Nurses are always over guidelines

- The manager is scheduling people to work an extra 12 hour shift regardless if they want to or not.

- There is NO such thing as team work, everyone is just out for themselves. You can only count on your friends to help!

- The charge nurses do not help you , they bark orders, audit charts but usually you are on your own.

- The floor is a very confrontational environment, the charge nurses are not even qualified, they just choose people who are willing to do the job on a daily basis regardless of experience.

Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Helloooooo unemployment, thank you very much! I'd rather wait it out and play up my 3 years of LVN experience on a resume knowing my license is intact and I don't work in fear of drowning or disciplinary action every shift.

Specializes in Hospice.

I would take the job, you have been doing it for 3 years....you can do it until you can transfer internally. good luck.

If you have stood this unit for this long, you can hack it for another year to 18 months, while you work on getting a better job.

Specializes in Cardiovascular medical/surgical.

Stay at your job, the job market right now stinks and a lot of people I talked to recently that just started where I just started said no one took their LPN time as experience!! Money is better than no money and it is always easier to find a job while employed.

Isn't this the exact reason why hospitals have not been hiring new grads... they ask for experienced individuals because hospitals currently require fewer people to handle more work. They believe more experienced nurses can handle more patients, work faster, work independently, and are familiar with long shifts.

I would stay for the experience and transfer to another floor or another hospital once I got the 2-3 years requested experience. Good luck in your decision!

Hey, just hang in there. Most Nursing Jobs suck ! Managers listen but no what the real deal is - The real deal is making money.Florence Nightingale would get her herself fired now days. Just get your experince and keep your eyes open for something else to open up. I once had a job in a LTC spot that had on some floors 140 pts. Get this -divided between two nurses. Once ,I caught on the what the " Real Deal " was it was great. I realized they just wanted a nurse , and who cares about the pts. . They dont expect you to be some " Theorist " . Oh, I can see this coming " I can loose my lisc. " No you wont ! Most folks loose it over outside healthcare stuff i.e. DUI, TAXES, CHILDSUPPORT,

Specializes in acute care.

You stayed for 3 years and survived. *I* would stay for at least another year to be able to put that RN experience on the resume.

I too would vote for staying on the crazy med surg floor. The only reason i make this vote is because i know it is possible. Your description of your unit sounds exactly like my unit (although not med surg). It is not the ideal working condition but it pays the bills and provides the opportunity to improve nursing skills. Good luck to you.

Specializes in Cardiac.

I agree, if you need to pay your bills, then stay. You know what its like already, so its no surprise to you, althouh it sounds pretty crappy.Try it for 6 months at least, but keep looking at whats out there.Good LUck!

unemployment for possibly 1-2 years.

OR a good paying job with a strong possibility to transfer internally. but hey, MS is like that everywhere.. alot of units are horror stories. but we gotta all start somewhere grim. its what you make of it.

u know the answer

The unit you describe sounds exactly like mine, except mine is not Med/Surg. I think everywhere is the same. You should take the job, it will be easier to find another one when you're already working as an RN than being unemployed.

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